Feels Like Halloween

It’s Halloween today. After a night of watching scary movies, I decided to give my flight or fright instinct a break before my heart pops right out of my chest. I wracked what is left of my brain to come up a family Halloween recipe. All I could remember is that my cousin, Carole, used to decorate sugar cookies to look like pumpkins. I got a kick out of how she thought people would allow their kids to eat her cookies if she put her address label on the baggies of cookies she passed out to the Halloweeners that came to her door. Somehow, a sugar cookie recipe wasn’t working for me today. So, I guess I’ll post what I would bring to a Halloween party.

My favorite website to find festive recipes is Better Homes and Gardens. For the last few Halloween parties we attended, I baked something similar to what our family called pepperoni bread. When I saw this recipe on BHG, I had to try it. It was a big hit at every party.

Constricting Snake Bites

Makes: 24 slices

Prep: 45 minutes Rise: 20 minutes Bake: 25 mintues

Ingredients

• 3 16-ounce loaves frozen white bread dough, thawed

• 6 tablespoons brown mustard
• 16 ounces thinly sliced ham

• 12 ounces thinly sliced salami

• 6 ounces provolone cheese, shredded

• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

• tablespoon water

• Green, red, and yellow liquid food coloring

• egg yolks

• whole cloves
• tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, optional
• 2 small pimiento-stuffed olives
• Bottled roasted red sweet pepper strip (6x1-inch)

Directions

1. Line 3 cookie sheets with foil, grease the foil and set aside. Roll one of the loaves of dough on a lightly floured surface to a 26 x 6-inch rectangle. May need to allow dough to rest a few minutes occasionally while rolling out. Lightly brush 2 tablespoons mustard to within 1 inch of the sides of dough. Layer one third of the ham and salami over mustard. Mix together cheeses. Sprinkle one third of the cheese mixture over ham and salami. Brush edges of dough with water. Roll up into a spiral, tightly, starting with one of the long sides. Pinch all edges to seal. Shape dough on baking sheet in an "S" shape.

2. Combine one of the egg yolks, one teaspoon water, and several drops of desired food coloring. Repeat making green, red, and yellow egg wash. Using a small brush paint stripes crosswise over loaf, allowing wash to drizzle down the sides.

3. Let loaf rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle top of loaf with 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan cheese, if desired.

4. While one section of the "snake " rises, repeat with remaining bread dough and ingredients. Taper one end of each of these loaves to a rounded point making a head and tail. Insert 2 whole cloves at one of these ends making nostrils of the "snake". Place on remaining prepared cookie sheets. Paint and let rise as above.



5. Bake snake sections in a 375 degree F oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until bottoms of loaves are golden. Insert olives with toothpicks above the cloves, to form eyes. Place red pepper strip in front of snake's mouth. Assemble snake portions on bamboo leaves, if desired. Slice and serve warm. Makes 24 slices.

The Manilla Recipe Connection

I haven’t felt like myself at all lately. I lost another job! What are the odds of losing two jobs in a one year time period? My ego has definitely been deflated. But, I have a great family and several good friends that have been very supportive. I’ve made a decision to work as a temp; that way if I do not like the job assignment I know that it won’t last forever and something new is just around the corner. This new endeavor has caused my creative juices to flow again. I’ve vowed to try new things, meet new people, experience new eateries, and experiment with new recipes.

My cousin Greg met a lovely young woman from Manilla named Jyrene. Since I had so much time on my hands, I started playing Café World on Facebook and discovered that Jyrene plays the game too. We took our Facebook gaming one step further and began to e mail one another too. Jyrene mentioned that she was interested in cooking. We began swapping messages on our likes and dislikes about food. I told her about my blog and promised to send her some family recipes. In turn, she promised to send me some of her favorite recipes too. So in keeping with experiencing new things and meeting new people, I am posting Jyrene’s recipe for Pork Sinigang. Enjoy!

Pork Sinigang Ingredients

• 3/4 kilo Pork, cut into chunks

• 3 tomatoes, sliced

• 2 onions, diced

• 5 cloves of garlic, minced

• 100 grams Kangkong (river spinach)

• 100 grams String beans

• 2 pieces horse radishes, sliced

• 3 pieces gabi (taro), pealed

• 2 pieces sili pag sigang (green finger pepper)

• 200 grams sampalok (tamarind)

• 3 tablespoons of patis (fish sauce)

Directions

• Boil sampalok in water until the shell shows cracks. Let cool then peel off the shells and with a strainer, pour samplalok (including water) into a bowl. Gently massage the sampalok meat off the seeds, strain again.

• In a pot, sauté garlic and onion then add the tomatoes. Let simmer for 5 minutes.

• Add pork and fish sauce . Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes then add the gabi. Continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or until the pork is tender.

• Add the horse radish and simmer for 10 minutes then add the string beans, kangkong and sili (for spice-optional). Let boil for 2 minutes.

• Serve piping hot.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate: The Best Flavor Combination

I needed to tame a craving today but my taste buds couldn’t decide between sweet or salty. As I thumbed through my recipes, I thought, yum, peanut butter and chocolate is really the best combination of flavors when the craving requires both sweet and salty tastes. I searched though all my recipe books and could not find anything that was easy to make. Then, remembered that my Grandmother- in-law, Goo Goo, used to make candy. I dug out one of her candy recipes for Peanut Butter and Pretzel Truffles.



Gwen Hopkins was called Goo Goo by all of her grandchildren. She was a kind, most generous person that anyone would love to have as a grandmother. She was a classic. Her long, thick, gray hair was always perfectly piled on top of her head surrounded by a crown of braided hair. I very rarely, if ever, remember Goo Goo when she wasn’t in a dress, hose, and chunky heeled pumps on her little feet. Everybody just loved Goo Goo.



When Goo Goo was a working woman, she handmade chocolates at the Williams Candy Company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I guess she would be called a chocolatier. I now wish I took more interest in her craft and copied down more of her candy recipes. She made absolutely wonderful cold fudge, which was a favorite of mine and is now lost forever. However, I did find her recipe for Peanut Butter and Pretzel Truffles. Since I could not actually make chocolate, she said I could melt my favorite chocolate instead.



Peanut Butter and Pretzel Truffles

Ingredients:

• ½ cup crunchy peanut butter

• ¼ cup of chopped salted pretzels

• ½ cup melted chocolate

• Cocoa Powder

Combine peanut butter and pretzels. Chill in freezer about 15 minutes.

Scoop out one teaspoon of mixtures and roll into balls.

Place on cookie sheet and freeze. Approx. 1 hour.

Dip frozen balls in melted chocolate.

Put dipped balls in refrigerator until almost set. Approx. 10 min.

Roll in cocoa powder. (If desired) Chill until firm.

I'm Tired Motley Recipe

I'm tired, just plain wore out today. Maybe I just have way too much on my mind and want to turn it off today. So here's the recipe for taking a day off.

1- comfy couch

1- favorite afghan

1 or 2 glasses of wine

1 - good old favorite book

1- afternoon nap

Enjoy

I've Been Thinking About Aunt Carmel

I have been thinking about Aunt Carmel today. I was digging through some old pictures trying to find a certain one for my friend Tammy’s web blog and came across a few pictures of Aunt Carmel. I fondly remember a day that Aunt Carmel picked me up in her light green Chevy Impala to spend the day picnicking and swimming at a local state park. The windows were rolled down, the radio was playing hits from the 60’s, and we were on our way. Wind in our hair, Aunt Carmel, her sons, Kenny and Robert, and I sang along with the tunes on the radio as we chugged along the highway. Chugged being the operative word, because Aunt Carmel always drove below the speed limit. She was driving so slow that we were pulled over by a state policeman and she was issued a ticket for driving under the minimum speed. Ticket or not that did not stop us from our day at the park. What Aunt Carmel lacked in race car driving abilities, she definitely made up for in picnic basket culinary talents.

 

What I loved best about picnicking with Aunt Carmel was her picnic basket lunches. She loved to take us on outings that involved picnics. Her picnic basket was always filled with great home cooked foods. No PB&J sandwiches for Aunt Carmel. She did not even break out the grill for plain old hot dogs and hamburgers. Her basket usually contained cold fried chicken, antipasto, homemade pizzas, or my favorite, rice balls. I think I was the only kid more interested in lunch than swimming. Aunt Carmel could quite honestly put Julia Child to shame. When she made rice balls, every family member devoured them with gusto and fought over the last few left on the table. We could not get enough of them.

 

 In honor of Aunt Carmel, I am posting her rice ball recipe.

 

Aunt Carmel’s Rice Balls

Ingredients:

• ½ lb. each chicken liver and gizzards 
• 1 lb. can crushed tomatoes 
• ½ cup olive oil 
• 1 clove crushed garlic  
• ½ cup chopped parsley 
• 1 tsp. basil 
• Salt & pepper to taste 
• 1 lb. uncooked rice 
• 1 lemon 
• ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 Tblsp. cinnamon
• 1 beaten egg
• Plain bread crumbs

Directions:

1. In a medium sized pot cover gizzards’ in water and boil one hour.
2. Add livers and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Save water and set aside.
4. Cut all the meat off the gizzards, discard gummy parts.
5. Finely chop the gizzards and livers.
6. In another pot, combine the chopped meat, tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, parsley, basil, salt, and pepper. Cook sauce for one hour until oil forms on top. And cool.
7. Boil the rice in the set aside meat water for 17 minutes. (Do not rinse, set aside to cool.)
8. To the cooled rice add the meat sauce, juice of one lemon, grated cheese, cinnamon, and egg.
9. Form into oblong shape balls, dip into beaten eggs and then roll in plain bread crumbs.
10. Fry in deep oil.
11. Drain on paper towels and serve.

Aunt Carm sometimes also baked these rice balls but she never explained how long or at what temperature. Then again, almaost everthing she taught me was at 350 degrees? Give it a healthier shot; experiment baking them, I'm sticking to frying.

 

Everyone Likes Macaroni Salad

In every family, at every picnic, someone always brings macaroni salad. The ingredients vary from family to family depending upon who will or won’t eat certain ingredients. Everyone has a favorite macaroni salad concoction usually based on whatever was traditionally served throughout childhood.

In my immediate family household, my brother, Alex, was a fussy, plain eater. So, mom made a separate bowl for him consisting of macaroni, hard boiled egg, celery, and mayo only. I hated the sweet pickles that she chopped up in the salad. She would put them in a little bowl and served them on the side for her and dad. When she had enough of me and Alex complaining about the ingredients, she would just mix it all together, told us to eat it, and it was up to us to pick out the stuff we wouldn’t eat. That drove her nuts too, so most of the time I ate the pickles to keep out of trouble. Not Alex, he could hold out a lot longer than I could. He could spend hours picking out little bits of “unjins” and sweet pickles. When all else failed we could always try the gagging routine, which usually ended up with a “backhander” across the top of the head; then, being sent to bed and no TV.

Mom varied the ingredients over the years; with or without grated carrots, sometimes the hardboiled eggs were sliced, paprika-ed and laid on the top, sometimes they were chopped up and mixed in. The dressing varied too. At times, sour cream or even yellow mustard was added to the mayonnaise. But, the three basic ingredients remained the same; elbow macaroni, chopped celery, and onions. She sometimes experimented with adding olives, shrimp, peas, or green peppers. Dad would eat anything she put in her macaroni salad. Alex and I dreaded any variation from the norm.

Over the years, I’ve eaten many versions of macaroni salad with every kind of crazy additional ingredients. What it all boils down to is this; we eat what we like and pretty much don’t care for the exotic additions. We’ll worry about the calories consumed at the family picnic tomorrow. I made macaroni salad today because it is traditionally on the Labor Day, end of summer, picnic menu. This is what I concocted.

Macaroni Salad

• 1# box of small sea shell pasta (because that’s what I had in the pantry) cook according to package directions

• 4 roughly chopped stalks of celery

• ½ of a large vadalia onion, minced

• 6 chopped hard boiled eggs

• 1 finely grated carrot

• ½ # salad shrimp

• 2 tblsp. dry parsley

Dressing: (all ingredients are equal - per Mom-Mom)

• 6 heaping tblsp. light mayonnaise (any mayo will do too)

• 6 tblsp. sugar

• 6 tblsp. evaporated milk (any milk will do too)

• 6 tblsp. wine vinegar ( I like to mix both wine and tarragon)

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and sprinkle top with paprika. Chill and serve.

I Need a Sweet Treat

It has been nine weeks since I lost my job. I didn’t want my blog to be about my job hunt but then again I need to vent. It has been pretty discouraging. I looked at losing my job as the perfect opportunity to do something new. I wanted to take the skills, experience, and my new, proudly obtained degree in marketing to prove to the world that I could be more than just a packaging customer service rep. But, it seems that the world doesn’t have the same attitude that I do. Oh, friends, family, people I meet on the street, at networking functions, and at the Tampa Workforce Alliance agree with me; that I am an ideal candidate. But, it seems hiring managers either are not willing to give a 56 year old woman a chance or my resume gets lost in the mountains of replies for job postings. E mail stalking, calling, and networking tactics haven’t been working either. My next step is to actually plant myself on a hiring manager’s doorstep to see if I can get my foot in the door without getting arrested.

Needless to say I need to indulgence myself in a sweet treat today. Since I am an emotional eater and my comfort foods choices usually contain a sugary treat to make me feel better, I wracked my brains to come up with something that I could make out of the ingredients in my pantry. My logic today is that I needed to make a treat that wouldn’t cost me any money or gas by having to run out to the grocery store. Although my mood today is to end a craving and I do need to watch the calories, I am more concerned with process of actually making something and writing about it. Based on what I found in the pantry, I decided to make what my Mom calls Icebox Cake.

Growing up, Mom’s daily dinners always included an entrée, salad, and dessert. Dinner was served at the dinner table promptly at 5 pm. My brother and I helped to both set the table and clear away the dishes. Mom did all the food shopping, meal planning, and preparation. Dad did the eating, bringing home the paycheck, and dinnertime joke telling. I guess we were the typical small town, nuclear family.

I do not know where this recipe originated. My maternal grandmother also made Icebox Cake. Both Mom and Gramma Olexy loved pineapple; to them pineapple was a real exotic treat. Unfortunately, my brother and I were not big fans of pineapple, but if it was put on the table you had to eat it. I learned to like Icebox Cake because I would sneak the pineapple on to my Dad’s plate when Mom wasn’t looking and just eat all the other sweet ingredients. It was our secret. My brother would just pick it out, refuse to eat it, and had to sit at the table until Mom would give up and send him to bed.

Now, I actually am starting to like pineapple and even have some canned pineapple in my pantry; along with all the other needed ingredients too. So, it’s Icebox Cake for dessert tonight.

Dorothy M. Rinaldi’s Icebox Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 (6 ounce) packages black cherry flavored gelatin mix (or your favorite flavor)

• 2 cups boiling water

• 2 cups cold water

• 1 (16 ounce) package graham crackers

• 2 (8 ounce) cans crushed pineapple

• 1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed (Mom always made fresh whipped cream)

Directions:

1. Pour the gelatin mix into a large bowl, and stir in the boiling water until the gelatin has dissolved, add cold water. Refrigerate until set, about 3 hours.

2. Make a layer of graham crackers in the bottom of a glass 9x13 inch baking dish. Spoon a layer of gelatin over the graham crackers, and top with a layer of crushed pineapple. Cover with a layer of whipped topping. Repeat the layers all the way to the top of the pan, ending with whipped topping on top.

3. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving to let the graham crackers absorb the flavors of gelatin and pineapple.